From the sketchbook....

Well I've been finding that the creative process is failing me badly on the canvas....sales on Etsy are non-existent so it's time to take things back to basics. By this I mean doing art for the sake of art. Between my full time job that pays the bills and my children I've had little to no time to self promote. This by no means is a complaint...I'm able to pay the bills and my children are happy and this is by far the top priorities at this time. This being said though I ache to draw or paint something so what better way than to sketch! My goal is to use these sketches/doodling for inspiration. It's odd how something so simple and basic is something I never ever do. All artists do it, but for some reason I keep trying to skip over this process. Hopefully by embracing it I'll get some creative mojo going. So please, I encourage everyone to post comments when I post the sketches/doodles, I would LOVE to know if something I do just for the sake of doing it is appealing.....it may be my next finished piece.

Thank you again for following and reading, I enjoy sharing what I do and I'm trying to get better at posting more often....and without further ado.....the first sketches that I'm happy enough to post, bear with me they may not all be as "pretty".....

A Productive Evening.....

Wow! What a creative rush! I had an incredible time tonight, so creative and inspiring. I'm not sure where the inspiration came from, not one bit. But I'm happy I ran with it. I'm so pleased because I don't usually do many mixed media pieces and this one turned out so true to what I had pictured in my mind. This piece is still not titled but is I'm very happy with it....hopefully I'll have it listed within my Etsy store over the next few days and will be sure to list the link. I'm rather pleased, the combination of watercolour paints, charcoal pencil, pan pastels and acid free pen complimented each other even better than I had hoped :)

It's definitely not my creates piece.....nor my most complicated, but overall I'm just happy to let a complete piece out of the jumbled creative mess my brain has been lately. The break in the creative block is welcome and hopefully will be the first of many new pieces......

*IMPORTANT NOTE* Blogger issues are preventing me from uploading a picture of the new piece, i'll be sure to edit it in as soon as the site decides to play nice :)

And now for something a little different

Today marks my first day experimenting with Pan pastels.....I'm not happy at all with this....not one bit. It's amazing how quickly you forget to use a medium when you ignore it for so long. I think I do remember why I wasn't too much of a fan of pastels now that I've picked them up again. This being said though I don't plan on giving up on them. One thing I'm realizing this time around is that I need to re-learn what I expect of them. For example, one key fact is that I shouldn't man handle the paper prior to using the pastels. I forgot the oils on my skin would pre-mark the paper, showing themselves as I run the pastel over them. I'll have to commit to learning how to use these materials a little more effectively and get more attractive results out of them. My impression of this first play sketch is how much it resembles my childhood art.

They are incredibly expensive too. This little set wasn't too bad though and a great steal (thank you Curry's!!!) although the individual pieces I'll need to get (notice there's no white or black?) are a little intimidating at six bucks per canister.

What I do like about them is how easily they glide across the paper, so much more control in this format over the traditional pastel stick. The colours are so incredibly vibrant and I have a feeling will pop a lot more once I get over being shy in the application of them on the paper.

I look forward to showing further experimentations using these pastels, hopefully along the way I'll create some unique pieces I'll actually list in my shop.

Under the Willow Tree

Under the Willow Tree is a painting just finished using watercolour paint and ink. It's 4x6 inches in size and features a silhouette of a girl among fairies under the moon and willow tree. Lately I've just been fascinated with the ink on watercolour look and love how this one has turned out......

You'll find this piece for sale in my Etsy Store

Logan's Meadow, original artwork for sale on Etsy (again)

Well folks it's time I stop treating this art as a hobby and jump back in both feet running. Today I have ended my long silence over on Etsy. I have re-listed a few pieces I've had on the site before and will be adding to the inventory a few pieces at a time. In addition to this I will be creating new work to be added to the store as well.

Please visit my shop: Logan's Meadow

Long term I plan on selecting a few of my favorites and will be looking into offering them for sale at a different site www.artwanted.com. You can find me there and view my profile: Logan's Meadow

Stay tuned, there is going to be a lot more activity. Here of course along with my Facebook page (link on the right) will be where you'll find all the latest updates and news regarding the world of Logan's Meadow.

As always thank you for your interest in me and my art!

Sunny Whimsy

The only thing to do after the Moonlit Whimsy is naturally the polar opposite. I've taken the darker piece and made a little bit of a happier version (although my personal favorite is still the original). I really like how happy this piece makes me feel though, it definitely has it's own appeal. I have a few other ideas for this style of painting I plan on doing after this......most likely something water related. I have visions of surf and sun in my mind. Maybe some wishful thinking to get the summer started?

And now for a little Whimsy

Today I scaled it down significantly from my last project! I'm not too sure what brought this image to mind but it fell into place rapidly. Started early this morning and finished shortly after the kids were put to bed tonight, definitely probably a piece has been finished quite so quickly....well at least at this size. The final piece is 8 x 10 inches and painted with Acrylic. I've titled it Moonlit Whimsy. Something about it makes me smile despite the grayed out colours.....this is definitely one of my favorites. I'm still rather undecided about what I'll do with this piece however felt it would be a great place to start by displaying it here......

The Sunset......Completed and displayed

Well it's done. Completely done and came together a LOT faster than I had originally anticipated. Some pieces are like that for me and click together incredibly fast. I love how sometimes simple works better than my more detailed pieces. As always I'm very undecided how I feel about this piece but I am happy with it as is. There's a few things I would have done differently but as is it works and there's no plans to do any further changes.

With no further delay here are some pictures of the completed piece where it's now on display.......in my living room!

C'est Fini!......Well almost!

Wow, what a rush....today I got on a roll and I'm almost there! The canvas is painted and signed, all that is left is the edges of the canvas to be prettied up and then drying time of course. Three hours of constant painting.....a very rare thing for me for which I have to thank my wonderful husband who left me home by myself for some quality creating time! Once the edging is done and the paint is completely set I will do the final update on the piece (still un-named).

As the paint dries....aka A Rather Large Work In Progress.......

Well there's been a rather large amount of progress on the piece in the last few days. I had meant to wait until this weekend but seeing as how half the fun is getting the larger pieces mucked in I couldn't resist! Finer detail still has yet to be done but I'm enjoying this phase. Hopefully I'll get the lower half finished this weekend and start on the middle. Stay tuned for further updates and thank you for following!

A rather large work in progress......

Today I have decided to start what is definitely my largest piece on canvas yet. I've been intending on creating a new piece for my living room since the idea was given once we had painted the room at the end of the summer last year. I'll be blogging regarding the progress the entire way and hopefully at the end I'll have a piece I'll actually want to hang up. Any one who knows me knows that I'm incredibly hard on myself and while I have sold a few pieces......I still have a hard time displaying it where others will see it in my own home. completely irrational I'm sure, but an artist is ultimately their own harshest critic.

That aside, today not much progress has been made apart from deciding the actual design of the piece and blocking it in on the canvas itself. The total size is 24 x 28 inches and as of yet won't be framed however the edging will be painted a darker chocolate brown to match the accents in the room in which it will be hung. I'm looking forward to what this will turn into and I'm very hopeful it won't be overly difficult. My aim is to keep it simple so as not too stick out too much in a room that's already pretty bold.